Rahime Sultan

Esma Sultana, Sultan Abdülmecid’s aunt, languishes in the magnificent
palace where she lives in state. She is lonely and unhappy because she is
childless. She decides to adopt Rahime, a one year old girl from Halil Bey, a
Circassian nobleman. The girl is petite and gracefully delicate, like a bird
in flight. Esma nicknames her Perestû, which means “Swallow”. She loves her
little swallow and lavishes her with the finest education in courtly manners
and the arts, and keeps her outside the gossip of the harem. The years pass.
Rahime is now fourteen, still thin and willowy, as graceful as any bird in
the sky. On a fine spring day, the Sultan catches sight of her as he walks in
the garden. He is captivated by her, he cannot get her out of his mind. He
quizzes everyone about the identity of the alluring blue-eyed girl, but no
one seems to know her. In desperation he turns to his aunt. Esma realizes
immediately that he is talking about her daughter Rahime, the Swallow. In an
effort to help Abdülmejid forget her daughter, Esma brings together all the
finest and most beautiful concubines of the Palace to amuse her nephew. She
hopes that the Sultan will develop an interest in one of them and forget his
hunt for Perestû. But the Sultan is seriously smitten by the little bird, he
cannot get Rahime out of his mind. Esma accepts the inevitable and orders the
harem-master to find Rahime. “Fetch Perestû and order her to bring a cup of
coffee to my Lion!” Soon enough the blue-eyed girl enters the hall bearing
coffee that she serves in diamond encrusted cups for the pleasure of the
Sultan. And as tradition dictates, she waits modestly until he has finished
his coffee. Abdülmecid does not hesitate. He holds both of his aunt’s hands
in his own and asks for her daughter’s hand in marriage. A week later Rahime
“Perestû”, splendid in a pearl-embroidered red velvet gown, golden crown and
veil, is driven to the palace in her mother’s silver-plated carriage. The
year is 1844. The road on which the bridal procession passes is sprinkled
with gold, as sherbet is being served to the guests who are waiting in
Topkapı Palace. Everything is very festive this day, in readiness for a
magnificent wedding.